About the Author

Amy Attenborough

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Amy worked at Londolozi from 2014 to 2017, guiding full time before moving into the media department, where her photographic and story-telling skills shone through. Her deep love of all things wild and her spiritual connection to Africa set her writing and guiding ...

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14 Comments

on The Difference Between The White and Black Rhino

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Thank you Amy, great information clarifying the differences.

Member
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Great information and great photos to show the differences. Thanks

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Thanks for the info! Any truth to what I heard while staying at Londolozi that, when walking with babies, the black rhinos trail the babies behind them, while the white rhinos keep the babies out-front?

Hi Mike. Yes this is quite a well accepted theory. The thinking is that because a white rhino lives in more open habitat, it can run behind the youngster and guide it with its horn if need be. The black rhino however, lives in thicker habitat and so needs to carve a path through the brush that the youngster can follow behind on. Having said this though, I have seen a black rhino running ahead of its mother and a white rhino trailing its mother. As is so often the case in the bush, it really is dependent on the situation and although there may be a pattern, it doesn’t always necessarily play out that way. Hope this helps! Thanks, Amy

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Thanks Amy for clarifying the differences, I can now look at my Londolozi rhino photos and see that they are all white ones.Next Londolozi trip I will want to find a black one. Great blog thanks again.

Hi Krishna. Yes with black rhino numbers what they are and with the habitat at Londolozi being predominantly suited to white rhino, we don’t really see black rhino. There have however been a few sightings over the last few years, so you never know. We’ll be sure to keep you posted if any are spotted. Thanks, Amy

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Really interesting blog Amy! I had no idea there were so many differences between the White and Black Rhino.

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Hello Amy,
We popped over in May 2015 for our nephews ( Robert & Kendra Ebert’s 15th wedding anniversary) and whilst we were there I picked up on an interesting snippet of info re Rhinos.
White Rhinos are actually not white but were called White Rhinos due to the earliest Afrikaans and Dutch settlers naming them ” Wijd” meaning wide, as they had wide broad mouths.
The English settlers mispronounced “wijd” for white, and this is how the broad mouthed Rhinos came to be called white.
Did not however know that there were so many points of difference between the white and black Rhinos.
Thank you for the most interesting article.
Kind Regards
Marina and Trevor Ebert

Member
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Great read! Always felt embarrassed not knowing the difference 🙂

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Do Black Rhinos and White Rhinos ever mate?

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Little did I know. Thank you for the info. All along, I thought that there’s only 1 difference, viz. (mouth & food preferences), yet there is a lot. So interesting. One question that I also would like to know is, do black and white rhino mate?

Hi Lizeka. So glad you found it helpful. Black and white rhino are in fact two different species and do not attempt to breed. I haven’t heard or read of any reports in the wild or in captivity. Thanks, Amy

Member
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Hi Amy. Thank you for all this information , now I have learnt a lot about rhinos

wonderfully described with images ,sketch and write up on two most valuable species on earth White and Black Rhyno

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